THE STORY OF SUYA BUAN OF THE B'LAAN TRIBE
A PEACEFUL STRUGGLE OF AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TOWARDS THEIR RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION 

The B’laan people around Mt. Matutum invited our team to visit their Ancestral Land last Wednesday, September 12th, 2007.  Fred Fredeluces, an agricultural engineer who has been working alongside with them for the past 20 years, introduced us to this indigenous people.  Beren Malumpong, one of their elders, gave us a warm welcome.

Daryl Descallar, a leading creative communications consultant in Davao City, came along to help us document the story of this tribe.  "Here on Mt. Matutum," Daryl explains, "I see the connection between the farmers, the environment, and the peacebuilders."

As soon as we arrived, an elderly lady, Lumauna Buan, prepared civet coffee.  She roasted, ground, and brewed a generous amount of the most expensive coffee in the world right in front of us.  It was a wonderful treat!

While having coffee fellowship with the community, Beren Sumalpong told us the story of Suya Buan (1960-2000), their tribal leader who gave his life for the sake of their people and their land.  Suya is the symbol of their peaceful struggle towards the realization of their right to self-determination.

Suya dreamed to lead his people towards economic progress.  In the early 1990s, he was convinced by big business people and powerful politicians to allow logging within the Ancestral Land of the B’laan people around Mt. Matutum in the province of South Cotabato.  He sincerely believed it was a path to alleviate his people from poverty.  At first, he enjoyed the rewards of logging in terms of wealth and power among his people.  But such rewards were short lived.

Soon, Suya Buan realized that while the owners of the logging companies and the politicians were getting extremely rich, his people’s economic life was not improving and their Ancestral Land was being desecrated and destroyed.  Through community consultations and spiritual discernment processes, he decided it was time to stop logging within the B’laan land.

In March 1995, Mount Matutum was declared as Protected Landscape by the Philippine government.

The corrupt politicians and the logging companies filed various criminal and civil charges against Suya Buan and his cousin, Malsi.  Malsi's father, Malueg, was also charged along with Suya.  The politicians and logging bosses manipulated some of the local B’laan folks to speak ill against Suya and his fellow tribal leaders.  Violence was also used by the powerful people to intimidate the community.

Malsi Buan, who also serves as the tribe’s spiritual leader, was teary eyed when he told us about the tragic incident that happened in October 28, 2000.  “A group of armed men came to my cousin Suya’s home,” he said.  “They sounded very friendly when they asked for him.  When my brother opened the door, the armed men shot him on his chest with an M14 rifle.  He died on the spot.”  Malsi paused and quietly cried.  Then he continued, “I was very angry... and yet I did not think of killing one of them in return.  I cried to the Creator for justice.  I did not stop believing that the Creator looks after us.”

Jonah, Suya's younger brother, honestly admitted he thought of retaliation: “I wanted to avenge my brother Suya.  But everybody in the community advised me to be calm and submit my anger to the Creator.”

Within a few months, the powerful logging businessman who was believed to be the mastermind got sick, suffered from internal conflicts within his family and business, and died in pain.

In March 29, 2001, the Protected Area Management Board of the Republic of the Philippines gave Suya Buan a posthumous award as Deputy Environment and Natural Resources Officer.  The Provincial Court also dismissed all the charges against Malsi and Malueg.  

Inspired by Suya Buan's life, a group of young men organized themselves to protect their land.  They are now known as BantayGubat (WildernessWatch) Volunteers.  These volunteers invited us to visit the tomb of their mentor and local hero, Suya Buan.  We stood around the tomb and spent moments of silence—thanking the Creator for the life and example of Suya.  Those young men told me that "the struggle towards self-determination is still an on-going process.... There are so much to do yet, but we are full of hope."

Throughout those years of struggle, Fred Fredeluces has been quietly walking with the B'laan tribe around Mt. Matutum.  He encouraged the people there to grow arabica coffee trees.  His livelihood is now intertwined with the B'laans.  He buys arabica and the civet coffee beans from them at a just price.  He also gives them training on money management in the context of creation-stewardship and spirituality.

Daryl Descallar is now designing communication and promotional media to help Fred and his B'laan friends expand their market share of coffee beans, nationally and internationally.  He is also documenting the experiences of the B'laan tribe around Mt. Matutum as a model for other tribes to think of peace and development in terms of harmony with their Creator (spiritual transformation), harmony with themselves (psycho-social transformation), harmony with others (social-political transformation), and harmony with nature (ecological-economic transformation).

B'laan Arabica Coffee, including their civet coffee, is now a featured brew at the Peacebuilders Community Café.

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